Elevator
by Velyni
Summary: She was a stranger to him yet she was also familiar. They often took the elevator together but never once had they spoken to each other. The only interaction they had was their slight greeting – a smile and a nod. She was a familiar stranger. [AxC][AU][One-shot]


**Disclaimer:** I don't own Gundam Seed/Gundam Seed Destiny, obviously, because if I did, I wouldn't have wasted so much time on this site. X)

**Author's Note:** After diligently following AsuCaga fanfiction for 7 years, I finally decided to write something. I guess it's because GS fanfiction is like a dying art these days. D: And I honestly need to read AxC fanfiction as much as I need to breathe air. X( So if you're reading this, please help contribute to GS (and AxC) fanfics! :D

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**Elevator**

A blue haired man stood in front of a pair of cold steel doors, waiting. They say that working on the top floor has its perks. Firstly, if you're working on this floor, it means that you're working under the direct command of the boss. In other words, you must hold a pretty high position in the company and earn quite a bit. There are probably people for you to boss around, and deeds you have accomplished for the company that are worth boasting about. Something else to boast about would be the ocean view from the top floor. Just to the man's right, a full length window overlooks the city below. Although the ocean has already merged with the dark skies above, the city lights were still a sight to behold.

However, being the practical man that he is, Athrun Zala cannot help but notice the disadvantages of working on this floor. Aside from having twice the amount of workload as everyone else, the time spent waiting for the elevator is just outrageous. Despite having several elevators in the building, only one reached the topmost floors and strangely enough, it seemed to be the slowest as well. Athrun's work hours were flexible, allowing him to start and end work slightly later in order to avoid rush hour traffic. Though leaving later also meant that he would have to wait for the elevator to come all the way up from the first floor since the previous person who used it was most likely leaving the building.

_Oh well, at least it's better than being stuck in traffic..._

The elevator finally emitted its classic bell sound as the doors began to open. Athrun stepped inside and promptly pressed the 'G' button followed by the close button. Today was just another ordinary day at work. As he watched the floor numbers decrease, he let his thoughts drift. He thought about the day's events, what he should have for dinner tonight, and whether his best friend finally plucked up the courage to propose to his girlfriend. He also wondered if the elevator would stop on the 20th floor tonight.

_(23...22...21...20. Ding!)_

Not surprisingly, the elevator came to a halt on the 20th floor and the doors opened to reveal a blonde woman who gave him a small smile. He nodded in return and stepped a bit to his left as the blonde entered and occupied the right corner of the elevator instead. The steel doors closed once again.

Although this did not happen every day, Athrun occasionally bumped into this blonde woman on the elevator. He would always stand on the left side of the elevator while she stood on the right. It was normal for strangers to space themselves out when taking the elevator just as they do when taking the bus. It was no different for the blonde woman and him.

She was a stranger to him yet she was also familiar. They often took the elevator together but never once had they spoken to each other. The only interaction they had was their slight greeting – a smile and a nod. She was a familiar stranger.

Athrun stole a glance at the blonde woman to his right. Despite her short stature, she never seems to wear heels like other women do. Today, she was dressed simply in a pair of black slacks and a white blouse accompanied by a dark grey blazer. Her hair was slightly messy as if she had ruffled it during the more frustrating times of her day. She was staring downwards and so, he could not clearly see the pair of eyes that he had unknowingly become attracted to. They were a brilliant shade of amber and he briefly wondered whether they had dulled down a bit due to a long tiring day.

_(11...10...9...)_

It wasn't like Athrun had a crush on the blonde. _No, nothing like that._ But for some reason, she intrigued him simply by being there. The only thing he really knew about her was that she worked in the same company as him, yet the information didn't seem enough. He wanted to know more about her, like why doesn't she wear high heels? What is it like in the department she works in? Do her colleagues treat her well? _Is she seeing someone? _Suddenly, he had the urge to ask for her na-

_(Thump)_

The elevator gave a small jerk and came to an abrupt halt. The lights flickered a little before dimming, causing the elevator to be much darker than before yet still allowing sight. He glanced up towards where the floor numbers were previously displayed and saw that it was now blank. Then he looked over at the blonde who was looking upwards, confused and annoyed at how the lights were malfunctioning.

_She doesn't seem too fazed by this_,Athrun thought. He wasn't sexist but he had expected her to be a little more frantic. Blame it on television shows and movies but in these situations, women would stereotypically lose their minds. They would scream, hyperventilate, or worse, suddenly have to give birth...

Shaking his head lightly to get rid of his absurd thoughts, Athrun reached over to press the emergency button on the elevator panel. A loud shrill erupted within the elevator and he was slightly baffled at whether pressing the emergency button was the right thing to do. The blonde woman seemed to be more annoyed than before and was covering her ears with her hands. He was tempted to do the same but luckily, the alarm shut off before it was necessary.

"Hello? Is something wrong?" A gruff voiced said. It was probably the middle-aged security guard from the first floor.

"The elevator seems to be stuck. Is there a power outage?" Athrun asked as he held down the microphone button and spoke into the speaker.

"No, there isn't. How many people are in the elevator? Is everyone alright?"

"Uh...yes, just me and one other," Athrun replied swiftly.

"Hm, the security camera doesn't seem to be working either. Well, this isn't really part of my expertise so I think I'll have to call the fire department. It'll probably take a while but... well, just ring the alarm again if the situation changes."

For some reason, the guard's words weren't all that reassuring, but Athrun didn't really have any other choice but to take it. "Alright, thanks." He let go of the microphone button and turned back towards the other occupant. The blonde, who had been watching him converse with the security guard, was leaning her back against the back wall of the elevator. She looked at him expectantly.

"It... seems like we'll be stuck in here for a bit," He told her.

She nodded and mumbled a quiet "yeah..."

_(Silence...)_

"I wish the doors were opened." She voiced out after a minute. "At least we can take the stairs then."

Athrun looked at her, amused. "We might be between floors right now. Not to mention, it would be a pretty long walk."

"It's still better than waiting here, right?"

"I guess..." He replied, not quite sure if he truly agreed or not.

The blonde suddenly sat down, her back against the wall and her legs stretched out in front of her. "Well, I'm sure the walk would be less than 20 floors."

Athrun chuckled at her statement. "Because that's the floor you got on from?" He got a sheepish smile in return. There was a small hesitation before he spoke again. "The 20th floor... you work in the marketing department?"

She nodded. "Yeah. How about you?"

"I'm an executive from the top floor."

"Ah...I see," The blonde mused with an expression Athrun could not decipher. Was she impressed because of his high position in the company despite his young age? Was she jealous at the fact his floor has a better ocean view? Was she offended because it had sounded like he was boasting? Before Athrun could figure it out, the blonde woman spoke again.

"Hey, you want cookies?" She asked unexpectedly, bringing Athrun out of his thoughts. He watched as she pulled a bag of bite-sized chocolate chip cookies from her handbag and dangled it in front of him. She gave him a bright smile that resembled a child's. In fact, her smile reminded him of his best friend at the age of five, who had wanted to share snacks with him on their first day of kindergarten. It was a smile he simply could not say 'no' to.

"Sure," Athrun walked closer to the blonde and sat down beside her as she opened the bag of cookies and offered him some.

To be honest, their situation was quite bizarre. Here he was, stuck in an elevator with the woman he's been cru- _No, not crushing, _- bumping into and they were sitting on the floor munching on cookies like five year olds. But it didn't really feel strange at all. There was a comfortable ambience around them and he realized he didn't mind being stuck here, especially since he had company. He liked her presence.

"I didn't think I would spend my evening like this," She said in between chewing. "It's a Friday after all."

"Did you have plans or something? ...A date?" Athrun asked, with a tinge of nervousness in his voice.

Her face was coloured with a dash of pink. "Huh? No... I just ...didn't think I'd be stuck in an elevator having cookies for dinner."

"Me neither," He agreed. The cookies were almost done but he was still quite hungry. Despite that, Athrun couldn't help but feel a bit... content.

"Have you been stuck in an elevator before?" He asked her.

"No," She answered bluntly. As she popped the last cookie into her mouth, she folded the plastic bag twice and threw it into her handbag. "Have you?"

"I haven't either. I was just wondering since you didn't seem too frightened when the elevator stopped and the lights flickered and all," He explained.

"Well, you didn't seem frightened either," The blonde argued, giving him a slight glare. She did have a good point. "What? Were you expecting me to start crying like a damsel in distress so that you can save me and be a hero or something?"

"That would have been nice," He joked, giving her a boyish smile. The woman beside him rolled her eyes as if annoyed but the smile on her face showed amusement.

They continued talking, not really noticing the passing of time. Athrun began to learn little things about the blonde. For example, all of her colleagues in the marketing department are really nice except for one guy. According to the blonde, the man named Yuna had been harassing her lately. Athrun made a mental note to pull some strings and transfer the fellow elsewhere. He also learned that she loves spicy food and frozen yogurt.

Athrun could tell when she was passionate about something because her eyes were bright and full of life when she spoke. When he spoke, she listened intently, making comments whenever she had something to say. He wasn't really a socialiser but she was someone he didn't mind talking to.

The blonde had just excitedly proclaimed that her little brother finally proposed to his girlfriend today who had accepted.

"That's great," Athrun replied. "My best friend has been trying to work up the courage to propose too. He said he was going to do it today but I haven't heard from him yet."

"Aw, maybe you should give him a call," The blonde advised.

_(Thump)_

The elevator jerked again and then started to descend, a bit faster than its usual rate. The two occupants were a bit surprised. It didn't take long before it reached the ground floor. They sat on the floor, staring, as the doors opened to reveal a group of several firefighters and the middle-aged security guard.

"Are the two of you alright?" asked one of the firefighters as Athrun and his companion stepped out of the elevator.

"Yes, we're fine. Thank you," Athrun said with a small smile. He nodded in greeting towards the security guard as well who nodded in return.

"We're sorry that took so long. Man, there are still some things that need to be fixed in there. Guess we 'ought to get back to work. You two have a good evening now." The firefighter said as he and his co-workers stepped into the elevator.

Athrun walked towards the exit with the blonde behind him. _I guess I can go home now..._

As they stepped out of the building, a cool evening breeze passed by. Athrun turned to face the blonde who seemed a bit..._hesitant?_

"So... I guess I'll see you around," She said timidly.

"Yeah," He mumbled, unsure of what else to say.

Athrun watched as the blonde gave him an awkward wave and started walking away. After a few seconds, he departed as well towards the opposite direction.

He glanced at his watch. They had spent about an hour being stuck in that elevator but he was...happy. He finally got to know the familiar stranger whose presence had previously intrigued him. He can still vaguely remember the feeling of wanting to know her. He thought back to when he was still on the top floor, when he had stepped into the elevator thinking it was a regular day, when she had walked in with the usual smile, and when the elevator had stopped. Suddenly, he remembered what he was about to do before the elevator had halted.

Turning around, Athrun shouted towards the blonde. "Hey!"

She turned around, and raised an eyebrow at him quizzically.

"I'm Athrun. What's your name?"

She smiled and shouted back: "It's Cagalli."

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**Author's Note:** ...And whether they eventually fall in love and/or go on to ruin Kira's wedding, I will leave up to you. (:

I have no experience of being stuck in an elevator so if some of it seems odd then please excuse me. ...I also know absolutely nothing about business so if Athrun's position as an executive is strange, feel free to replace his position as you see fit. x) ("Athrun, you're fired!")

I'm not sure if it made sense but the texts in italic (minus the ones in brackets) are Athrun's thoughts. And it may be a bit weird because at times, he's sort of 'responding' or reacting to the narration...I don't know why but it just came out that way in my head so... o_o

Anyway, let me know how that went. Constructive criticism would be great but please be gentle; I have a weak heart. X)


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